Vault Sessions: J.D. Simo "You Are Playing 'Heartbreak Hotel' Wrong" (S3: E19)

[@projectmoon13]

I recently acquired a 2008 Memphis made Gibson ES 345 stereo custom in three tones sunburst. I am 54 years old and I’ve never been this excited about a guitar. Everybody has something to say. I love mine. That’s all. Peace out, Homies. What an awesome video

[@rdmkeytohwy]

J.D.‘s playing is always just mind-boggling good so you put him with any vintage guitar and/or amp and you have a great combo. He has studied many, many hours at Blues University and for sure has a Master’s Degree. Young guitar players should soak this up; use your ears more than your eyes and develop the nuance in your playing. That in my opinion is what separates the good from the great. And J.D. is GREAT. Thanks for this video.

[@gregmock6808]

Carrying that soul torch! Man you've got the mojo workin'.

[@arthurblackhistoric]

I can relate to JD's experience in discovering the ES-335s. I'd been watching the Woodstock movie and was mesmerised by Alvin Lee. Now I was a truck driver in those days (1987) and there was a kinda boutique music shop just around the road from our depot. I'd been a dyed in the wool Les Paul player and had just gotten a Flying V copy real cheap at a pawn shop. So, this particular day I was coming back to the loading yard and didn't wanna get back too early in case my boss gave me another load to see the day out way over on the other side of town. So I parked the truck in a side street and snuck into the music shop. They had a Gibson ES-355 with the coil taps and everything going on; I was standing there checking it out, not game to touch it without permission because of its $8,000 price tag. The shop guy asked me if I was interested in it and I said: I ain't got eight grand, so no. But he insisted I have a go on it . . and I did. Well that was all she wrote. I was in love. I told my band the following night at band practice that I'd played a 355 and the bass player told me there was a guitar like that in my local pawn shop. I went in on the Saturday morning and bought it for $240. It was a Shiro, made in Japan. In Australia in the 1980s rare American guitars were ridiculously rare, and the ones that were for sale would cost a kidney to buy. So the cheaper option for the hobbyist player that I was back then was the oriental copies. The Shiro was a beautiful wine red with chrome hardware and I bonded with that like I never dreamed I ever would, even more so than when I got my first Les Paul. I'd be lying in bed just looking at it when I was supposed to be sleeping, then I'd forget about sleeping and get up and just play it unplugged. That all happened in 1987 and I have only played ES-335s and their derivatives since then. Epiphone Sheratons, Rivieras, ES-355s, Gibson ES-335s, and lately in the last ten years, Gibson ES-355s. At the height of my guitar addiction I owned 53 guitars, all Gibsons and Epiphones. By 1999 I was an established Blues artist in Brisbane and was gigging my guts out. I became the highest profile player using the Epiphone Sheraton model on stage. I had a black one with as many mods as I could do, done to it. That brought me to the attention of the Gibson dealer and when I first went into the shop in the big city, they knew who I was. I enjoyed an endorsement locally from Gibson Australia for 17 years, right after purchasing my first Gibson ES-335 in 2000, and that sure helped me to stock up! I'm 66 now and starting to downsize the fleet some, but it sure is hard to pick which ones to let go.

[@lukeweston1234]

Pretty cool, I wonder what guitars I’ll end up with I just started playing a year ago

[@arthurblackhistoric]

@@crisprtalk6963 . . Yeah, I have played one. It felt really nice to play, however, in trying to dodge the copyright issues when making a faux Gibson in their old factory no less, Heritage went the wrong way in my opinion. The tapering headstock just looks so wrong in my view on a large guitar. I'd have preferred they make it something like the Sheraton's headstock instead. Also, I think the body may have been a bit thinner as well, although that could just be an optical illusion from the wider binding on the rim. But like I said, it did feel nice to play. To my sensibilities I'd like to see a 335 style guitar with maybe an extra quarter of an inch of thickness in the body, rather than going the Verithin route.

[@nikolaibarbarich7887]

Awesome story , cool to see another Aussie on here too! Regards from Melbourne Nik

[@arthurblackhistoric]

@@nikolaibarbarich7887 . . Hey Nik. Good to hear from you. Thanks for reaching out. I live in Caboolture, a town 30 kilometers north of the northern outskirts of Brisbane. I've got my own channel if you've got the time and/or the inclination to wanna check it out. Cheers, Arthur

[@nikolaibarbarich7887]

@@arthurblackhistoric Hey there , I'm going to head over to your channel and have a look now. I'm located in Dingley Village which is south east of Melbourne city. How did you go with the floods? Did they manage to hit your area?

[@chriswilliams-lilley5771]

One of the best. 🇬🇧👍📺

[@tuckmiester77]

Pure Gold

[@pusheen666]

This video is awesome on so many levels! Love me some JD!

[@markinthemix6055]

JD is a monster of a player. I play the RWeaver FX Violet Vibe that JD uses. So good!!!

[@FromtheSoultotheFretboard]

Love the licks and the sound mix killin it too!! Bravo and Well Done both artist and Songbirds!!

[@whynottalklikeapirat]

In case you missed it this here is a Soul Man ...

[@dustyparker4806]

Man those low notes coming through that Dumble is something to behold.

[@midrider335]

Must be a late ‘58 335 since it has binding on the neck. Love JD!

[@Tord79]

Ok! 58 Gibson 335 Dumble overdrive special J D Simo playing it, magic is happening😎

[@tonythue8113]

Great as always JD...bloody fantastic.

[@fejneerg]

Heard that BB straight take. Nice.

[@titi64230]

after seing all songbirds foundation video it s clear that this particular damn 58 korina V is the guitarist 's choice number 1

[@SongbirdsFoundation]

Big secret... we are in the middle of putting together a highlight reel of that guitar. Stay tuned!

[@titi64230]

@@SongbirdsFoundation good idea !

[@MrApprobatur]

Great episode!! However the description says "and his 1962 Fender 335"... highly doubt that's a fender ;)))

[@jimdavignon]

That V neck PU. Wow

[@lordofthemound3890]

Scotty Moore was playing a Gibson 1954 L5 CESN by the time “Heartbreak Hotel” was recorded.

[@markinthemix6055]

Honestly watching this is a guitar lesson. His subtle vocal like bends are WOW 😳 instant inspiration. Where’s my guitar 🤩

[@SongbirdsFoundation]

We thought so too! Check out our interview with Jack Pearson playing the 58 Flying V. It is another inspiring one!

[@allrequiredfields]

Ahh, Dumble, the Emperor's New Amp. I've played 3 Dumbles and they all absolutely bored the shit out of me. I'll take an old Tweed or a 67 Super Lead with 25w Celestions over a Dumble any day of the week.

[@arthurblackhistoric]

I feel the same way about the VHT Pitbull amps. I've never heard one that sounded any good. Labradoodle would be a more apt name for them. Having said that, I had to play through one back in 2008 at a Blues jam one time. I wound the wick up all the way on the gain knob in the dirty channel and got something that could be described as half-ways decent, but for the money the guy paid for it, not decent enough. I've got a Fender Hot Rod Deville that sounds much better, even at less than full volume.

[@jeffmazzei8520]

Great lesson JD Can’t wait till You come to Pittsburgh again, Hope your doing well

[@instant_coffee_is_evil]

The first ever vintage guitar I put my hands on was a 58 335, handed to me by the first owner... man I should have proposed to buy it. I still regret but I was broke and 17 y/o ...

[@arthurblackhistoric]

Youth is such a precious commodity; a shame to waste it on the young

[@simonvanderheijden432]

@@arthurblackhistoric BS

[@michaelheinz3954]

Beautiful video, just a little slip in the description: JD's guitar is a GIBSON ES-335, not a FENDER ;-)

[@SongbirdsFoundation]

Ha, we get through some of these without a hiccup;) Good Eye. Thanks!

[@gabrielcallizaya7412]

Wow! Give him Duane Allman's sg!

[@hizo64HH]

Damn that V

[@andylong7759]

Could somebody please tell me what neck angle on vintage guitars he is talking about and what difference it makes? I thought he was going to elaborate on that, but he didn't. It looks to me like the neck angle is less than it is on modern Gibsons, especially non-custom shop models. I noticed that custom shop guitars' neck angle is less steep.

[@garyjovanovitch3863]

You're correct Andy, the neck angle on modern Gibson's is much larger than vintage or historic reissues. The benefits of this, is that you get a lot more adjustment at the bridge end for action - the bridge sit's a lot higher naturally. A lot of vintage guitars both Fender and Gibson sometimes have issues where you can lower the saddles and bridge as low as it will go, but your action might still be too high, easily fixable with a bolt on but on a Gibson it requires a neck reset.There's also a lot more pressure on the bridge meaning that sustain is increased. Downsides? You can't put the stop tailpiece into the body as you'll just put so much pressure on the bridge - a lot of guys like the stop tailpiece to be cranked down.

[@gabrielm.4554]

15:03 I’ll be taking this phrase, don’t mind me

[@MrYatesj1]

LOVE!!!

[@jonnybeck6723]

The break angle looks '58 but possibly very late '58 early '59 w/ that bound neck??? cheers

[@johnhetherington8830]

BETTER THAN RAP

[@vincentboucher8726]

The sound is fabulous ! Which amp is using ?!

[@whiteyholmes]

Vincent Boucher Dumble...

[@Andrewmervyn]

I love JD but as a fan im concerned about his health. He seems to steadily get more unhealthy these past years

[@joeywho534]

Me too. I was going to say it if you didn’t.

[@titi64230]

same thing . J.D take care and whish you the best

[@christianlevesque1574]

2:08, in a nutshell.

[@SDPickups]

At one point he was looking like Leslie West when he was younger.

[@folkestonehorror2723]

The man had lived before. So had the muse. This time she came again as a 335...

[@johnmirabile3535]

THE TOBACCO BURST IS MUCH DARKER/BASSIER.....ITS VERY NICE BUT J.D.S HAS A NICE TREBLEY TONE CUTS THROUGH NICE//

[@davidg-oo1ox]

Man keeps getting mo bettah

[@cahitcetin7663]

👍🙏🏼🌹…+1.~

[@tremblinbones804]

i wake up for Greasy Time

[@guitarsgodalmighty]

Praise and hope and thanks to the Holy Spirit, Jesus of Nazareth, the GOD of all creation.

[@CalliGom]

JD is awesome! what else can you say about him?

[@SuperMIKEFREE]

love JD organic sound he always plays like he's on new ground. The watch on he's left wrist freaked me out , I hate watches . I see top athletes wearing watches but JD great guitar player and great communicator.

[@ibberman]

My God, he's wearing a watch!

[@bobdillon1138]

Tab is the work of the devil...Actually it is good for beginners because it gets them up and playing things they like fairly quickly weather they are playing it correctly or not is another matter. My advice to all Guitarists is after the first year lose the tab and start learning songs from start to finish by ear it will be one of the most frustrating things you will ever do but also one of the best.

[@nathueil1]

Great advice as i classify myself as a meat and potatoes player vs a taught and schooled player. Its been a blessing and curse but i love the challenge. Been playing for 30 odd yrs completly self taught, ive only used tab in instances where i have to get that note or run i cant wrap my fingers around. Had a buddy who has a degree in theory and is a player as well. He can read music and play flawlessly and hes passionate but everytime we played you could really hear a difference and to even watch our physical gestures you can see the difference. Music is the best.

[@arthurblackhistoric]

@@nathueil1 . . I had a student in 1998 who used to bring tabs he'd downloaded to songs I was teaching him. I'd make the necessary corrections because they were mostly inaccurate, and he'd then upload them again. I'd get him to listen with me to the records . . well, cassette tapes worked best . . to hear what the guitarists were playing. To this day I can't read tab. I'd show him what the guy on the CD was playing and he'd be furiously rubbing stuff out and re-writing it.

[@vintagepipesnightmares]

Does anybody remember chords ? This why I am starting to hate SRV witch I love but he only played one string at the time. And everybody is copying him more or less. Rather more.

[@SongbirdsFoundation]

Check out our last interview with Robben Ford. He talks a ton about chords and Mickey Baker.

[@vintagepipesnightmares]

Songbirds Foundation I did watched it. Good one guys !

[@Memo146376]

You don’t watch him play chords when Reese is doing organ solos???? Dude SRV is nuts with his vocabulary

[@stephanleo]

If you mean that Flying V bit: That's pure Albert King. SRV's big idol.

[@bcummings2187]

Really ? .......you may want to consider another instrument.....or perhaps maybe listen to SRV again......just saying 🤷‍♂️.....I mean there are no chords in Love Struck Baby .....the solo is all chords for fuck sake !.....Or his version of Chitlins Con Carne ......or Stangs Swang.....or Little Wing .....or Riveria Paradise or ANY fucking song he played. Come on man ......and the fact that he seamlessly went in and out of the rhythm while doing fills or solos WHILE singing as well. Educate yourself bro ...SRV's rhythm pocket was so stinky you could smell it a mile away.

[@SDPickups]

Been following him off and on. Great Player! But......Man, don't everlend your guitar to this guy, I can't believe how beat up that guitar has gotten, yikes! It used to be so pretty.

[@metalmulisha0143]

Man... What is that farty buzzy sound?

[@kurtiskoogle6689]

JD you dirty dog

[@NotUrBiz]

Let's be honest, this 1958 ES-335 guitar with a dumble amp just doesn't sound great. During his slide bit the strings are so low that he's fretting out way too much...nothing stellar in this at all. If you heard this and didn't know it was vintage, you'd never guess it was supposed to be amazing. Magnets are now more than sixty years old...it may have sounded better when it was new, but there's nothing even interesting in the tone now. Dumble? Not worth the money in this video. One more thing, watching him wipe his face and run his hands through his hair then grab the guitar is gross. How about a little respect for the instrument. Keep your funk off it.

[@MontyCantsin5]

Sounds pretty damn good to me. The guitar might not be specifically set up for slide, but guess what? The action can be adjusted! Doesn't mean it's not a great instrument because there's a bit of noise when using a slide. And why would you slag off the magnets and say they are no longer any good and then complain about the guitar being 'disrespected'? A tiny amount of sweat isn't going to harm anything.

[@NotUrBiz]

Monty Cantsin if you did a blind test, you’d never pick it out of the herd

[@MontyCantsin5]

@@NotUrBiz: A herd of what? MIM Teles?

[@MontyCantsin5]

@@NotUrBiz: Totally depends what the other guitars are. You've made no mention of that.

[@NotUrBiz]

Monty Cantsin in your world herds are made up of different animals?